Storage racks for small articles, ranging from pencils and pens to paint brushes to cassettes and small containers, come in many sizes, styles, constructions and configurations. Many of these storage racks and similar storage devices are expressly designed for and are usable only with articles of a single size and shape. Some utilize resilient clips or other similar resilient metal elements to retain the stored articles in the rack.
Somewhat versatile storage racks for small articles have been known in the prior art. For example, Bartleman U.S. Pat. No. 2,615,577 discloses a rack for hand tools in which the individual tools are suspended from a series of spring clips that can be mounted at varying positions along a multiply slotted main support bar. This storage arrangement is somewhat limited because each tool stored must fit into a given size clip; for a variety of tools different clip sizes must be provided. A slightly more versatile arrangement is disclosed in Schatz U.S. Pat. No. 3,405,809, which carries the Bartleman concept a step further; it utilizes a series of metal spring clips formed from pairs of individual clip arms, again mounted in an elongated slotted rack. The spacing of the arms can be varied to accommodate articles of different sizes.
Yet another more versatile storage rack is described in Rempel U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,976, in which individual storage compartments are formed by a continuous strip of flexible plastic ribbon fitted into an elongated panel in a manner to accommodate a rather wide variety of different shapes of tools or similar articles. The Rempel rack, however, requires that the ribbon portion of the storage rack be set up especially for the articles being stored; any change in these articles requires a new set-up for the ribbon.